Our review of La Bonne Étoile, or La Grande Vadrouille, Poelvoorde version

In 1940, under the Occupation, a French family decided to pass themselves off as Jewish in order to reach the free zone thanks to a well-established smuggling network. On this absurd postulate, The Good Star by Pascal Elbé manages to surprise. It all begins in the Vosges, where French soldiers are preparing to fight the Germans. Hungry, depressed, the regiment suddenly sees a cheerful supply man and his cart arrive who finally serves them soup. A wave of bombings breaks out.

Only the canteen keeper, Jean Chevalin (Benoît Poelvoorde), comes out alive. Panicked and lost, he returns home, to the astonishment of his son and his wife (Audrey Lamy), who calls him a deserter. “Deserting is another way of waging war,” he answers. The first images of The Good Star bring together a cohort of films devoted to the Second World War. Of The Crossing of Paris (1956) until Life is beautiful de Roberto Benigni (1997) or encore Mr Batignole (2002), through The Big Mop (1966), the period inspired many dramatic comedies.

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How to be original? Elbé turned to literature. Struck by reading the novel The Nazi and the Barber (1971), signed by the German Jewish writer Edgar Hilsenrath, the director of Owe are made to get along takes up, by adapting it to an average French character, the principle of a German assigned to an extermination camp who saves his skin by pretending to be a Jew. Imposture is – and will remain – one of the great mainsprings of comedy on the big screen. Here, as a true heir to Bourvil, Fernandel or even Chaplin, Benoît Poelvoorde takes on the role of this protagonist who is at once spineless, resourceful, astute and sometimes even heroic in spite of himself. Stuck between laughter and tears, the unforgettable interpreter of It happened near you manages to give depth to his character, which was not obvious at first.

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Break down prejudices

Between a fake Jew and a real bully, Poelvoorde annoys as much as he touches. His character, lucky as hell (hence the title), does magic tricks to amuse the children, avoids every trap with a grimace or a witticism, evolves between comedy and tragedy without ever completely losing his footing. Above all, Elbé allows Poelvoorde to emphasize the stereotypes of anti-Semitism while joyfully debunking them. With its double trigger title, The Good Star presents itself in the guise of a historical farce, which in a burlesque tone demolishes prejudices.

We will particularly remember the irresistible sequence where Jean Chevalin is invited to say the Shabbat prayer, in front of an assembly of Jews hidden in a castle, ending up reciting with aplomb a Our father to underline the solidarity uniting the two dogmas. Zabou Breitman plays a resistance baroness with brazenness and determination, receiving German dignitaries for dinner on one side, and clandestinely organizing sabotage operations on the other while sheltering Jewish families in flight.

Pascal Elbé, for his part, reserved the role of Sam Goldstein, a father in dire need who seeks at all costs to find his young son arrested by the Germans at the start of the film. With this fourth film, Elbé confirms that a lucky star watches over his talents as an actor-director.